Contour maps

In My Humble Opinion
1

Not a GQ, as I spend my life making them, and can probably answer most questions about them.

More of a rumination. I guess the question would be: is there anybody else here who makes or uses them?

Mine are mostly geological/geophysical maps. Although I’ve contoured other variables just for fun (demographic info - income, various crimes; weather info, etc.).

To some degree it’s an artistic thing, that I have to meld with the science driving the effort, as well as the financial engine that ultimately pushes those efforts forward. I began when it was all done with a pencil. And now, of course, we use some software; at least until it frustrates us to the point of reverting to making a pencil map (did that today).

As much time as is spent on them, we rarely talk about the art of contouring itself.

I’m not going to be particularly surprised if this becomes a zero-reply thread.

But, if you’re out there.

2

Got any links available for some of your fun ones?

3

I use aviation sectional charts. When they expire I use them for giftwrap.

4

I work for a “certain Federal land management agency” and we use USGS topos all the time (7.5’, 1:100K, surface geology quads, etc.) We have a whole room full of 'em in our little field office.

We also have our own internal geospatial capability (ESRI - based.)

5

The Onion’s StatShot once was “least popular maps”. One of them was “topographical map of central Kansas”.

6

I use them for wilderness canoeing. They make it a lot easier to plan a trip (or more precisely, where to anticipate portaging).

One of the results of Canada’s switch from imperial to metric measurement is that some of my maps are imperial (OK), some are metric (OK), but a few are a bit of both at once, with linear grids on an metric scale, but contours on an imperial scale (NOT OK).

What’s really neat is to compare old maps which had few contours (there be monsters), such as Killarney, with recent maps which have been fully mapped. Similarly, a lot of our country has only been provisionally mapped (e.g. a fly by with no corrections), so paddling with provisional maps can be interesting (sometimes there really be monsters).

7

I love maps. The topo maps especially. There’s just something about maps, I have a whole box of them in the basement plus a wad of Nat’l Geo. maps upstairs.
-Rue.

8

Land use planner checking in. I use USGS Quad Sheets all the time.

9

Yep, I make Aeronautical charts. I make the IAP charts in the books.

At one time I also made nautical charts, insuarance maps, and maps of new fiber optic lines.

We use contour maps all the time, we are currently adding contours to some of our charts. I wish someone would tell these people more about the art side of it since I seem to fix a lot of that type of stuff. I’ve only been doing it for 5 years now, but I’ve done some work by hand, though most is being switched over to computers.

(I also wish I could type/spell today)

10

I’ve been a mapmaker cartographer for about 20 years. Lots of different disciplines. At one point I hand painted geomorphic maps. Sounds like fun but it got real tedious real fast. Basically paint by number all day long.

Currently I’m a GIS Programmer/Analyst for County Government. I must say I do like it. I’ve been in GIS for 13 years.

Check out www.co.summit.co.us then click Real Property and Maps. Then agree to the disclaimer. Thats my Counties mapping website.

11

I use contour maps in Rhino3d to ensure that textures will go on the 3d models I make without too much distortion.

That is about it though, heh. Not exactly the most scientific use of them, but it works. :slight_smile:

12

Yep. I use 'em, and collect 'em. In fact, I’ve got a nice set of west Texas out-of-print 15-minute quads!

And I completely agree with you about the Lost Art of Contouring. With software that does contouring–but does a super-shitty job of it–students don’t seem to think that they need to know how to do it, or be able to evaluate if the computer has done it right (hint: it hasn’t!)

Contour Map fun:

Sometimes, just out of curiosity, I’ll pull one out and trace drainage basins on 'em.

And ANY excuse to make an isopach map is a good excuse, if you ask me!

13

I use em for off roading. dont want to end up in a no-exit canyon low on gas, ya know!

(i’m lying. i actually never drive the jeep farther than i’m willing to walk home, unreliable as it is. if it ran, and kept running, i would use them a bunch :smiley: )

14

I can sit down with a USGS quad or even a state highway map and be happy for hours. I worked on survey crews some years ago and we occasionally would collect topo data with an interesting mix of technologies. We used an HP total station for distance and elevation, and a plane table for azimuth and plotting. had to set up as close to the plane table as I could, then mentally correct distance for the relative offset to the plane table (which changed with azimuth). Our office didn’t own a data collector for the total station. Later, with another agency, I had a chance to learn operation of the new digital stereo plotter, but decided to leave for another job. This state agency was still using Kelsch-type glass-plate stereoplotters in 1995. They were older than the 2 guys running them, and they weren’t kids. I’m considering going back to school to work on a degree in geography, just to play with maps and GIS/remote sensing stuff.

15

I’ve generated a few contour maps of my roleplaying worlds, both via pencil and recently via Campaign Cartographer. They can be fun, though obviously not that scientific (And probably not that realistic, since all my contour training was from Earthscience class in highschool and a drafting class in college.)

16

I use contour maps whenever I’m on a military training march. Typically they give us a set of destination coordinates and a compass and say “go”. Knowing how to read elevations lets you easily plan a route around the steeper hills and avoid some of the deeper depressions that may be all muddy if it rained recently. I love 'em.

17

dono, I use a lot of those (digital, that I download as SDTS files) as well as the 1:24,000 that I usually buy in printed form.

Lol muffin. It is kinda fun to have a topo at hand and find yourself on it.

And enipla, while I can certainly become involved with whatever I’m mapping, yes, a certain amount of drudgery can creep into making the final map. I guess that’s part of what makes it so satisfying to finish a map (even when I know new data will require that I update it in the future).

Pantellerite pal, yeah, I tend to doodle the drainage patterns on. That makes me think of a successful spec data firm that marketed offshore 2D seismic in the eighties. One of their giveaways was a notepad that had one of their very high quality 2D regional seismic lines printed on it in light grey. I, and many of my friends, received these pads and found them useless as notepads because we couldn’t help but pick the faults on every page. Screwed with your notes.

The other thing I tend to do with topos is try to pick faults.

Another thing I enjoy with contour mapping is matching up different data sets, and, while two at a time is old hat, trying to find graphically meaningful ways of mapping three or more parameters remains a challenge.

I may map geologic structure with black contours and overlay that with blue isopach or isochron contours. When I add in red production or surmised permeability contours, the map ceases to be comprehensible to most people, unless I can devise some kind of color fill that addresses the appropriate cross-over of significant parameters.

And, you’re right Pant, while there are plenty of contouring software packages available, none of them have as yet learned geology. That’s not to say they’re not useful, but you still need a human hand.

A thought - how would you map wind on top of topography? What to use for wind? Volume? Velocity?

Sorry, ultrafilter, I’ve got no funsies maps online.

18

I love the challenge of making a good map. It really makes you draw upon most every aspect of your formal and informal education and it’s nice as more data becomes available via drilling programs to check your original interpretation and make the necessary adjustments. Encountering horizons right where you said they’d be is a damn fine feeling.

Like many of you, I can sit entranced for hours looking at a topo sheet. We used 'em extensively from Florida to Alaska to keep ourselves located precisely while collecting geochem samples and it becomes a valuable skill. In conditions ranging from dense Oregon forest to Kansas plains to the North Slope from a chopper, we were compelled to pay attention to every nuance of the contour’s path and visualise it’s probable manifestation.

Man, I too do truly love 'em.

Wind on top of topography? You might try a transparent color with an increase in velocity causing an increase in opacity. Even grey would be effective.

19

Wow! I suddenly feel like the “Bee Girl” in the Blind Melon video when she discovers the field of bee people at the end of the video! I always felt like a weirdo for being such a map lovin’ gal. I am not alone in this! Huzzah!

As I pointed out in Francesca’s thread about “getting stuff”, i am a Geography major who’s pondering specializing in cartography. The only maps I’ve made so far are in a beginning cartography class. We had to get various data for a selected country, map it and give a class presentation with overheads and such. I made my maps in the style of those old fasionned maps, with colour only at the borders, and fading as you got towards the centre. While they were technically accurate and everything, I really wanted to make 'em artsy. I even had the little ships and sea monsters on the bodies of water, and the odd bit of landscape rendering here and there. There was even an “Ooohhhh!” from the class when I put the overhead on. I spent dozens of hours on each one, blending the colours just right. (OK, Maybe that’s weird!) A total labour of love, though.

If I wasn’t so equally obsessed with both weather and cartography, making cartography my area of specialization would be an easy choice to make. I guess that I’ll just have to work at something that combines the two subjects.

Wow, I had no idea that there were so many earth science types here. Anyone have any advice for a chick who’s making a career change into the world of geography?

20

Miss Gretchen, while I have to make most of my maps with an eye towards the economics involved, I still maintain an artistes’ eye toward 'em. I’m not a cartographer, although I maintain an ongoing interest in the development of that art.

As you know, I’m sure, being conversant with GIS terminology and ARCView will speed your cause.

And pretty maps are more than just that - if they concisely bear information through color and/or contour, they are useful maps.

Now, let’s find the creeks from the aerial photos.